Spartan 076 Story Of A Warrior
by freelancer92
Summary: James, mentally and physically broken, bent on the thought that his brothers and sisters of the Spartan Project are dead,is out for revenge against the covenant. This is his story, on how he survived the Reach Glassing. Chapter 10 Revised is in Progress.
1. Prolouge

Spartan-076 Story of a Warrior.

PROLOUGE

**0616 Hours, August 30, 2552(Military Calendar)****/  
UNSC Pelican Drop ship, Epsilon Eridani System near  
****Reach Station**

Blue-Two! Come in," John, the Master Chief, Spartan-117, his team leader, and forever friend, barked over the COM channel.

"Can---control---" James, Spartan-076 yelled over his com as he tried to get control of his thruster pack. He felt his last moments of his life slip between his fingers. "They've---Everywhere---"

Since he was six, he was trained on the same planet where he came to know what a true family was, his brothers, and his sisters. The same planet, where he learned to fight, survive, and earn total victory against his enemy, with his squad, or alone. Done with all his training, his superhuman strength, reflexes, and determination... are now completely useless against the laws of physics. And now, the planet he called home, was being glassed by the Covenant.

The Covenant, were a merciless assortment of alien races that are united in a religious belief. They have an incredible fighting force, and have superior technology that was generations ahead of humans. They would find a settlement, and if they would not join their covenant, or the settlement was "An affront to their gods", they would take their cruisers and glass the planet. Waves after waves of plasma fire from an orbital bombardment would wipe out every square inch of the planet. The atmosphere would burn, lakes would scorch and dry up, and the ground would be on fire, it looked like hell itself. After they were done, they just moved on to the next planet. The military used "glassed" as to explain what the planet looked like when they were looking at it from orbit, one big giant glass ball.

There was nothing he could do now, semi-unconscious and floating in zero-gee, waiting to be finished by more plasma fire. He could hear John, yelling at him, but he couldn't make out the words. Before James knew it, he was unconscious, and finally, he took his last look at the bright suns of the Epsilon Eridani system...

A/N Yeah this is my first Fan fiction so I hope its a good one. R&R please!


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**How am I still alive?**

**D +1:12:30(Spartan-076 Mission Clock)****/  
Epsilon Eridani system, in orbit around planet Reach.**

As James woke up, he heard things talking, but couldn't see, his vision was too blurry, so he gave up, and closed his eyes again and thought _'what the hell just happened?_'. The last thing he remembered was getting to the Navigation data base that him and his squad was assigned to destroy, so the Covenant wouldn't find Earth. '_Shit_,' he thought, ' _I hope John and the others destroyed it..._' He once again tried to open his eyes and they were a little better, even for them being augmented. He looked around again and saw fine details and purplish lights with murals of warriors...covenant warriors, _' I'm in a covenant cruiser!_'

He immediately looked down to see if they had taken his MJOLNIR armor off and stolen the technology. They didn't, so he assumed they were too thick headed to believe this is much better armor than the ones the Elites wear. He got up, and every muscle screamed at him with pain. But he got up anyways and stood face to face with a Red Armored Elite.

"Sit down human." It commanded and pointed to a table in the center of the room.

"I'll stand."

"You're not in the position to make such bold statements human." It shot back

James looked behind it, and realized there was at least a squad of green armored grunts, and two special ops elites. So, he went and took a seat which was way to big for him, it was obviously designed for an elite. When he sat down, the elite reached to take his helmet off but James quickly and decisively grabbed both its wrist and twisted them to the point where he could hear the bones crack.

"ARGGG!" The Elite roared with pain as his wrists were severely broken.

James speedily got up and kicked a grunt in the face, making its skull collapse and killing it instantly. Then turned around to finish off the elite but one of the special ops elites took a plasma rifle and whacked James in the face, almost knocking him out.

_'Fuck'_ James thought to himself, all of a sudden he heard his helmet make a hissing noise as it was being taken off. Mean while a few grunts were tying him up with some kind of rope. He looked around, and one of the spec ops elites had the helmet as the other walked the red elite out of the room with the grunts, probably to medical. _'He he,'_ he chuckled to himself. _'That taught him a lesson, not to fuck with a Spartan, especially, a pissed off one.'_ He looked back at the elite who was inspecting his helmet.

"Your technology is inferior human." It grunted with disapproval, and then it threw it half way across the room.

"You'd better pick that up, or in 5 minutes, you're going to die." James said smiling

"Oh really," the elite said while he backhanded him across the face. Causing James to recoil. "You're all bound up and there is nothing you can do."

"Ha ha ha ha." James laughed aloud.

"How dare you mock me!" It scowled then whacked him in the face again several times for what seemed like hours. James again recoiled after the last blow, but only to look back to see that his legs were free from the poor excuse for a rope.

"Guess what?" he said

"What slime?"

"Its been 5 minutes."

The elite looked confused but suddenly realized what he said. And as soon as he did, he got a round house kick to the face by the Spartan. Breaking its neck as it twisted in a 360 degree manner. James freed himself and walked over to the plasma rifle. Once he picked it up, he looked around, no grunts. 'Hmm...they must be patrolling the gates' he thought.

He went about half way, found and picked up his helmet, and put it on to see if his HUD was still operating. _'Good, very good'_ Looked around again to surveillance the room, and noticed grunts and jackals as prisoners. _'Hmm, they must've done something pretty bad to be locked up by there own friendlies.'_ After he proceeded to go out and see what the little methane breathing bastards were up too.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**The Belly Of The Beast**

**D +1:12:50(Spartan-076 Mission Clock)  
****/Aboard Covenant Cruiser, Slipspace, unknown vector. **

_'Damn it I got to get the hell out of here, where is the damn escape pods,'_ James thought to himself while mowing down a squad of grunts. _'the more I kill, the more they come, and I doubt they have an infinite amount of plasma rifles.'_ By the time he left the prison cells, he'd been fighting for 20 minutes and he already ran in to more trouble than he would've liked to. And using three plasma rifles and a plasma pistol through it all.

He found himself at the start of a hallway with 2 elites patrolling the area, they were only rookies by the tell of their armor, but they were dangerous nonetheless. So he waited until one turned around and both were facing the same way for a short while, then he came up behind it, and hit it on the back of the head, needless to say, it was dead before it could ever see his comrade again. James then hung a left and took cover before he could hear the other elite yell and run over to his dead comrade. Quickly and Carefully, James snuck up behind it too, and preformed the same move he did with the previous elite. It made a small whimper before dieing on its brother.

"I swear to God if I don't find those damn pods I'm gunna kill everything in this damn ship!" James said aloud to himself.

He knew he couldn't exit out of the ship in an escape pod while in slipspace. But once there out, he's free to go...unless they track him and send waves of plasma at him. After a few encounters with a lone jackals and a lone grunt, he hung a left and entered a hanger.

"Aw shit." he said. He looked around and expected to see some heavy resistance, but nothing; he just saw some of those purple engineers working. _'I remember them, from Sigma Octamus'_ he thought. He all of a sudden got a cold shiver down his spin from the memory of a hunter blasting his arm away in the museum. And quietly thanked the medics who gave him a prothstetic for a replacement. His reflexes were never what they used to be, but they're still considered _superhuman_.

Since nothing showed up on his motion sensor, he just decided to walk out to one of the ships that might have a slipspace engine, small enough to get him back to Earth...or to Reach to see if there were any other Spartans left alive. He knew the Master Chief was alive; he just had that gut feeling that you couldn't shake off. But the others...

"No." he said and quickly banished the thought from his mind.

He went up to the nearest ship that looked like a single fighter, but what did he know? He was a ground troop, not a pilot. So he grabbed an engineer who protested by squirming in his arm and shoved it on what he thought was the control panel. The engineer at once understood and opened the hatch that led to the inside.

_'Hmm._' He looked around and went to the back of the ship to check if there was a slipspace generator. He didn't really know what one looked like in real life; he just remembered ones he saw in slideshows for mission debriefing when he wasn't with the Chief. He couldn't find one so he left, took the same engineer, and went to the next ship.

This one looked more like a transport vessel for a small squad of troops but not big enough to be a drop ship, so he got the engineer to open it and walked in. He again went to the back of this ship, and finally found what was needed. _'There you are' _he thought. When he walked back he saw a grunt walk in to the ship. '_Shit' _James found cover, and then when he thought the time was right, walked behind it to kill it. But then it turned around and yelped in shock of being face to face with a Spartan, James quickly killed it and looked outside to see if it was with a CO who might've heard. It wasn't, so he was safe for now.

"Well, it looks like its gunna be a while before we get out of slipspace, so might as well make myself comfortable."

James then found a bed, or what looked like a bed, and laid down on it, thinking about everything that has been happening. After a few hours he could feel his eyes wanting to shut, but he couldn't, not if there were going to be search parties after they realized he was missing. _'Then again,'_ he thought _'they probably still think that elite is still interrogating me, and not to be disturbed.' _

After mentally debating on what he was going to do, he decided a quick nap wouldn't hurt, as long as he left his motion sensor on 5 feet around the perimeter of the ship. He put the alarm on and then finally let his eyes shut. And took a long deserved nap.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Now What!**

**D + 2:3:45 (Spartan-076 Mission Clock)****/  
Aboard Covenant Cruiser, Slipspace, Unknown Vector.**

Beep! Beep!

"Oh shit." James said with a startle. _'I was asleep for five hours!' _James quickly got up and put his helmet on. It said: Warning Hostiles breached perimeter. "Oh crap!" He went to the front of the ship, grabbed two plasma rifles and took cover behind some stacked crates.

After about five minutes three elites stepped in the vehicle. One yelled as it found the dead grunt in a back corner of a room and ran right by James. _'Perfect' _he thought as the rest of the elites followed suit. Little did they know that James was right outside of them and could easily lock them in their, of course, after throwing in a few plasma grenades. And that's what he did. He snuck up behind, lobbed a few plasma grenades and locked the door.

"He he he." He chuckled

After a few seconds, the room made some incoherent noises, and then it fell silent. He opened the door, and found three scorched bodies. He exited and went to the front of the ship to use his fiber optic probe to see if their were any others waiting. Surprisingly, there wasn't, so he went back to work to see if he could learn the controls. "Its times like these I had something like Cortana" he muttered.

But his luck hadn't ran out yet, because he could feel the ship slowly decelerate as it entered normal space. _'Hmm, its time to take a look at where we are'_ James then exited the ship and went to find some sort of view port. But definitely not the bridge, so he left the hangar and entered a hall way.

After about thirty minutes of walking around killing everything in its path he still could not find a view port. He even interrogated a grunt, but it got him no where after he punched it too hard in the head making it die. He thought about interrogating an elite, but thought they're probably too noble to give any information away. So he looked for another grunt which he could interrogate.

_'Maybe I should go back to the hangar and see If I can get outta here.' _He thought. It shouldn't be too hard for the Spartan because he did what Hansel and Gretel did, left a trail of bread crumbs. But in this case the bread crumbs were countless dead bodies of elites and grunts, and the occasional jackal he ran in to. '_Actually, come to think of it, I haven't ran into many of them.' _He thought

So, he turned around and double timed it back too the hangar bay, following all the bodies and purplish-blue blood on the ground.

---------------------------------------------

Lan Erusamee was running late to the meeting for the members of the hunt and kill teams going after the armored human after he escaped. What happened was an elite was about to check up on the interrogator when he saw the dead grunts all around the door. He quickly entered and everyone was dead, and the human was missing.

The only reason why he was late because he was held up in a conversation with the spec ops commander by the nickname of "Half Jaw". He was actually quite pleased to of met him after all the stories he heard from fellow sangheili. And in return Half Jaw was quite pleased with 'Erusamee's work on the humans' military base-planet called "Reach".

'Erusamee landed on the planet with four squads of Sangheili and three squads of Unggoy to ambush the shield generators to their orbital guns. They took heavy losses after the green armored humans flanked, and sniped the covenant forces, but eventually they got reinforcements. Eight Lekgolo pairs, five squads of Kig-yar and Unggoy, and several more Sangheili, a few being high ranking commanders and other spec ops.

About after an hour of fighting, the Covenant overwhelmed the humans, and killed every single one of the armored ones, some were even injured. This left a pain of sympathy in 'Erusamee, killing a wounded soldier, but he did it anyways because he was an infidel, as the prophets put it.

'Erusamee ran down a long and narrow hallway the hung a left, almost knocking down a lone unggoy.

"Sorry, your greatness, it was my fault." It apologized.

"Of course, you are forgiven."

"Thank you, master."

_'Hmph, stupid unggoy, their corpses pile high on the battlefield, and are put down by many, why don't they fight? No strength? No will to stand up for there pitiful and dying race? They certainly do not lack in numbers. One day, there will be another rebellion, I know it.'_

Finally, 'Erusamee made it to the holding pens and looked for the right one. It was not hard because all he had to do was follow the dried blood and left over corpses.

_'Where are those engineers and the prisoners? They should clean this mess at once!'_

"Welcome Lan Erusamee, you are quite late." Mal Sollum, the director of the teams, welcomed with a bitter tone.

"Sorry, high one," Erusamee said while bowing low, "I was in a deep conversation with Special Operations Commander, 'Half Jaw'."

"In that case you are forgiven." He replied

'Now, on to the task at hand," he continued, "We will split in to 4 groups, 'Erusamee will take one group and search the first level, I will take another and go to the second level, 'Oslaga, will take the third and go to engineering," He pointed to a red armored Sangheili standing near by," and 'Balsoga will take the fourth and search the hanger." He said while pointing to a blue armored Sangheili.

_'Such an inexperienced Sangheili leading a squad? He must be held high amongst Sollums favor.'_

_'But who am I to judge, is it because I am part of the Spec Ops unit? Is it natural too look down upon fellow brothers who are a lower rank than I, like I do to the Unnoggy? Am I jealous because of this? Because I worked hard to earn my position and he has favor upon him. This burden will cause the death of him, and his squad.'_

'Erusamee then took his squad of experienced sangheili and ran to the elevator to go down to the first level of the ship, and kill the human if he was there.

**A/N Well there's chapter 3. I hoped you liked it. It was by far the longest chapter yet. But there probably will be longer ones because of the elite. Chapter 4 is in progress. It might take some time though; I have a lot of unpacking to do.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**All Is Well When Humans Are Dead.**

**D +2:4:30 (Spartan-076 Mission Clock)/  
****Aboard Covenant Cruiser, Unknown System.**

James finally reached the hangar bay after getting lost seven times. All the hallways looked same, so he got confused andhe thought he was going around in circles.

But finally after forty-five minutes of running around on a killing spree he finally reached the hangar only to arrive to ahunt and kill teamof at least five elites. _'Aw shit'_ he thought. So decided not to engage them directly, it'd be suicide. But instead, he resolved a trap like the one he used on the elites who came looking for the grunt. Instead of taking a grunt for bait, he'll take a dead elite as the bait. So, James snuck around some boxes and ammo crates where he silently picked up some 'nades, and then proceeded to the ship.

When he got in, he realized that the engineers could've taken the bodies, so he sprinted to the back of the ship, and forgot that he locked the door where the bodies were, so when he opened it, they were all still there in a neat pile. He went over, grabbed an elite, but almost fell under pressure because he didn't realize how much they really weighed. So, he set it down, and tried again to pick it up, this time bending his legs.

"There we go." He said to himself and heaved the body out of the door. When it hit ground it made a huge '_clank' _noise. Nobody could've missed it.

Before he could get set up, he heard some of the elites yell, and then there was nothing but footsteps coming towards the ship to be heard.

--------------------------------------------------

'Balsoga heard the noise all too well. And considered not going over, but instead one of his sangheili cried a battle roar and ran over to the noise, energy sword drawn. 'Balsoga called him back, but he didn't listen, he was too engulfed in the rage that came upon him. So 'Balsoga and the other sangheili looked to see what was happening at a different angle because they couldn't see what he was yelling at. After abouthalf a minuteof lookinghe saw the dead sangheili lying on the ground, horribly disfigured from what looked like plasma grenade scaring.

In that moment, he felt rage and sorrow for his fallen brother. He was engulfed in a vengeance that nothing could bring him out of. He wanted to kill anything in his path, he wanted to move, kill the human if we was responsable for this,but his body did not respond. His body was in shock.

_'No, my mind is in shock; this is my body responding to death. I knew I couldn't handle this. Why does Mal Sollum, commander of the second infantry unithave to be my uncle?'_

_'He is the one who put this burden upon me. I knew I wasn't ready for combat; I took only two out of the required five training programs. Because of my uncle thinking I was ready, I should've never agreed to this.'_

_'I can't believe I was naïve enough to agree; I chose to do this to prove my worth to the Covenant, and my family. But all I have done now is dishonor our name, by being scared of death. I should take my own life for reparations. All my hate as turned in too sorrows, and there is nothing I can do, but I will do what a true sangheili does._

'Balsoga once again tried to move, and his body finally responded with a surge of confidence he had never felt before. And maybe, hopefully, he might live through this, and if he does, he will be truly ready for combat.

With that said, 'Balsoga also drew his energy sword, and commanded the others to do so. Once they did, they all battle charged in to the ship. But only to find no one there, only the first Sangheili with his head down looking at something in a nearby room. They all cautiously entered, and saw what he was looking at.

Two more dead sangheili and one unngoy.

But their mourning was abruptly stopped as the door behind them shut, and the locked. 'Balsoga turned to face the elites, and sawthree plasma grenades on the grounds. All primed and in a few seconds about to explode.

He didn't know the adrenaline that drove an sangheili in to battle.

In a few hours, Mal Sollum would find his only nephew, dead, along with his brothers.

And he didn't even know what love felt like.

------------------------------

James couldn't believe that the same trick worked twice. He was quite proud of himself, but he knew that he'd have to come up with another if he didn't get off the ship._' If I could only see where the hell I am' _

Or he could just leave since he completely learned the controls. When they first learned of the covenant, the A.I.'s monitored their chatter to learn some dialect and text. Since noother spartan kept a chip that would help them read it in their armor, he thought it was a pretty smart idea to keep one. So with this help, he learned the controls much easier.

So he got up, made an engineer open the gate, and jumped in the ship.

_'Let's see what this piece of shit can do' _after that, he fired up the engine, and left the ship for good.

**A/N Chapter 4. Not the best chapter I've writen, its ok by my standards. But you always need those fill ins. I haven't thought much about chapter 5 yet. So don't be expecting an update soon. And don't get used to it, because as the story progress, there is going to be alot more writing, editing, and re-thinking. R&R please.**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: OK, this is still Helljumper92; I just changed my pen name so I don't confuse my RvB friends who are reading. Also, this is the first part of a certain previous mission; I'm trying to slow down the story as much as I can, trust me, you'll thank me later. There are going to be more flashbacks, but not ones that are as big as this.**

**Chapter 5**

**Tying Up Loose Ends**

**Part One**

**0650 Hours, November 6, 2525(Military Calendar) /  
****UNSC frigate _Foxhound _en route to planet Jericho VII.**

"You will be deployed at 1050 hours, and from there you will meet up with our contact on Jericho VII, and he will give you maps and recon areas to spy on the rebel base for several days," Doctor Catherine Halsey's voice echoed amongst the meeting room.

James saw five other Spartans besides him, SPARTAN-029, Joshua, SPARTAN-059, Malcolm, SPARTAN-117, John, their squad leader, SPARTAN-043, Will, SPARTAN-062, Maria.

"When you confirm the rebel's position and its leaders, you will call _Foxhound_ and they will send in one battalion of regular marines, and one battalion of ODST's. From there you will put the rebel factions down with brute force, kill first, and ask questions later,"

She continued, "Support is limited when you are reconing the area, so bring enough supplies too last you a few weeks, your contact will be available on your com channels if you need help."

"Ma'am, what are our extraction options?" John asked

"You have two options; one if everything goes wrong, you can use this panic button to alert _Foxhound _of your position, and they will come in guns blazing and drop the marines. Or option two, your mission is complete, and you regroup at checkpoint BETA, and then, you will be picked up, and brought back to _Foxhound._ "

"Ok Spartans, dismissed!" CPO Mendez shouted. They all returned the salute, and took the service elevators to the armory.

The armory could support a few legions of regular marines. At least five crates of grenades, two crates of M90 Shotguns, two crates of Jackhammer launchers and ammo, and tables lined up with SRS99C-S2 AM sniper rifles, MA5B's, MA2B's, combat knives and the standard issue side arm, the M6D HE pistol.

"Everyone take the black Mark VII drop suits, the one the ODST's wear, we'll need them if were going to be in the shadows for a few weeks." John said.

They were very complex suits, but well mounted. Short range sensor motion on the HUD, could deflect small arms fire, and has a squad com channel.

John picked up a sniper rifle, a handful of clips and a MA2B, the shortened version of the MA5B. It was the stripped down version of the standard assault rifle, and it had a longer nozzle for more accuracy, and it could be modified for silencers, it was more compact, it was more of a weapon need on missions in which required low ordnance, perfect for this mission.

James also picked up an S2 AM sniper rifle, but took a pistol, and a shotgun. He knew he'd need the firepower. But the shotgun wouldn't come in handy yet, so he decided to ask the contact if he could hold on to it.

The rest of the Spartans followed suit making changes to follow their preferences, except Joshua took their field medic, and data pad.

"Is everyone suited up?" John asked the team

"Yes, Sir!" they replied.

"Good, let's get to the docking bay."

**1050 Hours, November 6, 2525(Military Calendar) /  
****UNSC Pelican Dropship, en route to Contact on Jericho VII**

"Get ready its gunna be a bumpy ride!" The pilot yelled from the cockpit.

In the back, James was feeling nauseous re-entering the atmosphere, that's why he never did space ops, to little control, always getting worried about getting blasted away by enemy fire. This was not helping him change his opinion.

After a few minutes of flying, they finally got through and were on there way to the contact. James wondered what he'd might be like, was he a traitor to the rebels, or a UNSC operative assigned to this op? Whoever he was, James wasn't going to trust him, not yet.

"OK, we still got another hour until contact, if any of you want to sleep, go now." John said.

"I will, I had a rough night." James said

"What's up?" Maria asked

"Bad Dreams." He replied

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, I'm fine."

That was a lie and they all knew it. But they could all sympathize; each one had some nightmare about their old families. James wondered about them a lot, but that was bad thinking. His family is here, among his brother and sister Spartans, on Reach.

James fell asleep as soon as he closed his eyes, so did Maria, and Joshua. It was a surprise to see Joshua so quiet throughout the debriefing, and Malcolm.

----------------

"Mom?" James saw himself, running towards what looked like a parent figure. He never knew his real mom; she left him and his dad, that's what his older brother told him, until he left for the military.

Something protruded out her stomach, a hand. Her mouth oozed with blood, but she continued to smile. James ran up to her. He noticed when he started running he was a Spartan, but as he got closer, he kept getting younger, and younger. His mom, getting farther and farther, he was running, crying, couldn't hold on, and he finally fell, kneeling, on the ground staring at bloody hands.

_'No, it was not my hands that killed my mother'_ James thought

"No, NO!"

----------------------

"James! James get up! It's ok." Maria said

"What-? What's going? Why is my helmet off?"

"Its ok, you were having another dream."

Maria was once again trying to comfort him, she was always there for him, and no one was as caring to him. It's all because she could relate. They both were brought up by angry parents, only until Dr. Halsey came, and saved their lives. Gave them a purpose, duty, honor, service.

All the Spartans looked concern, especially John. John was always looking after his Spartans, concerned for their well being. It was part of the job of being the squad leader.

"OK Spartans ETA is in five minutes!" The pilot said over the com.

"OK, guys, get ready."

Everyone got up, unhooked there duffel bags full of weapons and extra clips of ammo from the safety restraints, and donned their helmets.

"Everyone change to private com channel Alpha," John ordered

"Were coming in, GO GO GO!" The pilot yelled.

"It's Spartan time guys!" Will yelled

**A/N: There you go, first part of about three maybe. This chapter took quite a lot of research, and if you wondering, Spartan-062, Maria, is an actual Spartan, she was too wounded in an engagement of sort, and retired. Currently living in either Songnam, or Singapore, can't remember, check Wikipedia, or Halopedia. Search _Spartan II Project._**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Ok so I haven't updated in a while, school and hockey starts soon, so it'll probably slow down. Anyways, bear with me here; this is the last slow chapter, then it'll be much faster pace with a few twists to them. Teehee.**

**Chapter 6**

**Tying Up Loose Ends**

**Part Two**

**1350 Hours, November 6, 2525(Military Calendar) /  
****Naiobi Plains, planet Jericho VII.**

"How much longer, sir?" Will piped up from the back

"About seven more klicks, a little over an hour and a half if we continue this speed." John replied

"Yeah, and if you don't shut up, I'll personally kick your ass from here to Reach!" Malcolm yelled.

They all laughed, even Maria. There wasn't much too laugh about anymore with the growing concern of a new enemy, rather than rebels. It so happened this new enemy destroyed the Harvest Colony, but they weren't suppose to know that.

They were all in a classic formation, Joshua taking point, John a little to his right, Maria to his left, James farther back to Maria's right, and Will had there six.

The Naiobi Plains were true to their name, grassy open fields, rolling hills, and the odd tree, and plenty of farmers. But all they thought they were was a bunch of teens out for a walk with some bags.

"You think these farmers are supporting the rebels here?" James asked

"Nah, Intel says they're underground, has a business for cover up." Joshua replied

"Yeah but since when has there ever been good Intel?" Maria said.

"True." Will said.

"Hey William!" Joshua said

"What?" He grumbled, he hated his formal name.

"Were here."

"What? We can't be, we still got another kilometer." John said in disbelief

"Yeah, but were Spartans remember? I bet that time was for infantry." James said.

"What'd I say, told ya we never have good Intel." Maria said.

_'True, but this seems wrong' _James thought

"What's the address?" James asked

"5582 Horse Lane." John replied

"What's the address on the house Josh?"

"Already on it." He said while pulling out his sniper rifle.

"Confirmed, 5582 Horse Lane."

"It's a fitting street name with all these farmers, eh?" Maria said trying to lighten up the situation.

"Yeah, everyone spread out, Will and I will go to the front and say _hello _while the rest of you go in the back. Hand signals from now on." John ordered

"Yes, sir." They replied.

James, taking point ahead of Malcolm and Maria, snuck around a corner, and held a fist up to stop there movements. _'Who the hell is talking?' _he thought

"Hey, pass me another beer."

"No, you weren't even suppose to have one, where on duty remember? What if those UNSC spec ops people arrive? We'll be dead!"

"Yeah right, we got two more upstairs with those stolen MA5B's, and some shotguns, I'll doubt five spec ops soldiers can take us on."

"Yeah I like those odds, plus we got Jimmy and Fred down in the basement. I'll have that beer with you."

_'Good, easy, relaxed targets, they won't know what hit him'_

James went back, and put his finger to his ear, put two fingers up, and then put two fingers up, and pointed up, then put two fingers up, and pointed to the ground.

Two targets on main floor, two upstairs, and two in the basement.

James crept up to where John and Will were, James signaled the same thing and John signaled to go in after the knock, silencers only.

So, he went back to Malcolm and Maria, and signaled to get ready. Maria took out here MA2B, and put the silencer on, Malcolm did the same, and James put a silencer on his modified M6D pistol.

Five minutes ticked off his mission clock, and then there was knocking.

"Go see who it is."

"Fuck no, you do it."

"Fine."

James took his fiber optic probe and snuck it through the window, the man got up, and took out an out dated pistol.

"Hey, what do you want kid?"

"I'm hopelessly lost can you help me?" Will asked

With that, Will took out his combat knife and slit his throat with one move, then he moved on to the next one with lightning speed. The man tried to un-holster his weapon but was stabbed in the head before he could get it out.

In the mean time, James and the others kicked the door down and head to the second floor, while Will and John went to the basement.

Maria was upfront and shot a three round burst into a mans skull, Malcolm went to the next man, side stepped, and stabbed him with a combat knife.

James swung a right and saw what looked like a trap door to get into a secret room on the ground. He opened the hatch and looked down into the next room and saw a woman hiding in a corner, breathing heavily, with a sidearm drawn.

It only took James an instant to take in the situation, he quickly dropped, sidestepped, and whack the gun out of her hand, and grabbed her by the throat, all in less than six seconds.

"John, we got a problem." James yelled, still had her by the throat.

"What?" said John as him and a bloodstained Will dropped into the room.

"Looks like you've been busy." Maria said while also jumping in the room.

"Yeah, the bastard had a knife on him."

"So that's his blood."

"Well it sure as hell isn't mine."

"Your not gunna kill me." The woman stated

"Why, who are you? Give us one reason not to kill you." Malcolm said

"Because I'm your contact, you're the Spartans aren't you?" She asked

"No, this seems wrong." Joshua said.

"Wait, but why were you in rebel base? And how did they not see this trap door?" James asked

"Oh no, this is my house, the rebels came, and took it over. And plus I doubt these rebels have augmented eyes" She continued. They all looked bewildered, in disbelief, then angry for a moment. Like someone betrayed them stuck a knife in their back.

"How do you know that?" James said while tightening the grip on the woman's throat.

"Dr. Catherine Halsey is a very good friend of mine."

"Why should we trust you? How do we know you are our contact?" John pursued

"Well I didn't kill you when you came in here remember?" She said while looking into James's eyes. "I also do have every high officer of the rebels' name, address, and hours work. I also have, what might be to some use, ID badges to slip in their main building and monitor their work. Also, perfect reconing areas that I found myself."

"Show us." James said while releasing his grasped on her throat.

"Follow me." She said while turning around and headed to the other side of the room.

James trained his gun on her, his finger on the trigger guard, its better to be safer then sorry. But he was flustered and not taking any chances with this women. He found her quite attractive even with his augmentations. They were suppose to decrease the sexual drive, but right now it wasn't working. She must've been in her later twenties, had long brown hair in a pony tail, green eyes, and a slender body.

_'No time for distractions,'_ James thought, _'my squad is counting on me to be alert, what if she's an imposter, if she's lying? And she stole all of this data from someone, or hacked into UNSC files.'_

James quickly shook out of his thoughts and focused on the woman who was bending over to pick something up. She took a map, and a data pad out of a drawer and handed it too John.

"Here, is this a sign of trust or not? Because if it isn't, go ahead and kill me now, but Dr. Halsey won't be very pleasant to you guys, sorry, and girls, when you get back. Oh, and they have an office building in the downtown of the capital, so if you want, I can go in and do some surveillance and find some ledges you can spy from." She said.

John keyed his com link to his Spartans, "Well, what do you think?"

"Fine with me, she seems friendly." James said and looked over at her. She obviously knew they were talking to each other through their com links. She was staring at each one of them.

"Yeah but not all soldiers are men, and in uniforms." Joshua butted in.

"But still, this is the only chance we've got." Malcolm replied.

"Ok then, let's go for it." Maria cheerfully said.

"Fine we trust you, but any funny move or notion; you've got a bullet in your head, guaranteed. You understand?" John asked

"But on one condition, who are you really?" James said with a hint of curiosity.

"I am an ONI First Class Lieutenant, Lauren Falcon." She said

John and the other Spartans quickly stood at attention and snapped a quick salute.

"Please, at ease. Technically that's not necessary, I'm not in uniform, and this operation is "Bandit" for the next week." The lieutenant explained.

"How did you get shipped out here?" Maria asked

"I volunteered, and I hadn't even heard of the "Spartans" until a few weeks ago."

"Oh. Well let's get to work!" Malcolm said

"Ok, but I'm coming with you, I have full access to their building, so if you need me out in the field or do some sabotage, I'll be your _women_." Lauren said

"Fine, we'll split up in to three groups, red watch, green watch, and blue watch, we'll call for you when we need you ok ma'am?" John said.

"Yes I understand, and you don't have to call me ma'am, what did I tell you earlier?"

"Ok." They replied in unison.

"James and I will be on red watch, then we will be relieved by Maria and Will on green, and then Malcolm and Joshua on blue. Lauren, you'll be our _women _in the field, and if you really can get in, do it, and inconspicuously. We don't want any unwanted attention."

"Alright, fine, I got some contacts anyways."

James went up to Lauren and said, "Hold on to this," and motioned to the shotgun "I'll need it later when the marines and ODST's come."

"Ok," she continued, "Oh the newer models, very nice."

"Ok James get your sniper and put a silencer on it, just in case. I'll go get the camo stuff we need on our face." John ordered

"Man, that stuff always smells like shit."

John went up to Josh who handed him the "stuff". It was made of dried fruit, mud, and twigs to give it the authentic smell. They didn't want the rebels to walk by and smell them.

"Ok, its 1646 military standard, so pick us up 1816, exactly an hour and a half," John said "we're taking the spot three kilometers west of the main building."

"Alright, we'll pick you up then." Maria said, and clasped Johns and James's arms, Will followed with Malcolm and Josh, their good luck sign.

With that, James and John ran off and went to spy on the rebels.

**A/N: Yeah, I know, pretty boring but you need these chapters to fill in the gaps. And if you were wondering, the reason why I put so much talking is because I wanted to show how close the Spartans really were. Sometimes I think people don't realize it. And with the addition to the new character, their will be a point of view change. More fun for me and most likely a pain for you! Enjoy and R & R!**


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Tying Up Loose Ends

Part Three

**1720 Hours, November 6, 2525(Military Calendar)/  
****Three kilometers west of Downtown Beau Paysage,  
****planet Jericho VII.**

"Sir, why did we have to start recon so late?" James asked

"So we can get a good look at the building and the surrounding areas for the other recon teams." John replied

"Yes, sir." He replied while looking down the barrel of his S2 rifle.

They arrived there thirty-five minutes ago and there was absolutely no activity around the base. There, was of course, activity inside the base. But they closed all the blinds, so they couldn't see in. But of course this isn't there "headquarters", this is just there cover up business office, meant to bring in money to buy black arms and stolen UNSC property.

As James surveyed the area, he realized why the UNSC chose the name "Beau Paysage" because in literal translation, it meant "Beautiful Scenery".

The city was surrounded by hills to the east, mountains to the north, and an ocean to the west, where people surf and just plain hang out. And as if on cue, a couple started walking down the beach and the man got on one knee, and looked like he proposed to her.

_They don't know what's going on, how easy they have it, no worries about turning the next corner and worrying about getting shot at. They have no idea. _He thought and turned his rifle away from the scene. _We will never be able to have that. But it's what some of us, like Maria, dream about._

_But someone has to do this job, and this is what I was born for, Mendez gave me purpose in my life._

"Contact, male, walking out the front door." John said

James squelched the thought, and turned his rifle to the man. He was fairly short 5'8", chubby, and had a beard. But it wasn't the physical features that gave him away. It was what he was carrying.

It was black duffel bag with something poking out of it, which looked like a nozzle of a weapon. James increased the resolution of the rifle and looked closer. When he did, he noticed not just one nozzle, but ten, with something bouncing around inside. _Must be ammunition and grenades...maybe_

James tagged the bag so they could find it later incase there was something else in it and listed the man in the helmets database so the others can check if he comes back.

"So, what do you think happened to Harvest, besides the part it being wiped out?" James asked

"Well, I hacked into ONI's files on it, but there wasn't much." John replied

"You think it's a different race? Like, not humans?"

"Very well could be."

James pondered on the subject for a moment, and then returned to his surveillance.

_Ugh, another 56 minutes before we're relieved by green watch. I wonder what Mendez would do. _

_"Rest can be as deadly as a knife or a gun"_

"He's coming back, but there's someone waiting." John said

James turned and tracked the man walking towards the building, but without the duffel bag. A women came and met him half way with a suitcase, no doubt it was money.

James increased the zoom on the women who looked like she was either hiding something, or very, very nervous. She continually looked from side to side, and at one time stared right into John and James's general direction.

She walked up to the man, smiling, said a few words, handed the suitcase to him, and they parted ways. The man had a huge smile on his face, and happily walked off. But not for long, the women turned around, called the guy, and took her gun out. There wasn't a smile on her face anymore.

The man's smile instantly turned into sadness, then shame. He got on his knees, and started to pray. The women walked up to him with the silenced pistol, and shot him in the head, right between the eyes.

James felt a rush of anger, sorrow, the will to act, but he couldn't. Instead he looked at John; he could see that he was feeling the same thing. This stood against everything that was drilled into their heads since day one.

And there was nothing they could do.

John put his hand on James's shoulder and shook it. To give him a little comfort, they felt the same way. James looked at him, and returned the gesture. After a few moments of silence, some more people with synthetic gloves came and took the body and threw it into the sea.

_Poor guy, I hope for his sake he didn't leave a family behind..._

James checked his watch, and was surprised to see that whole scene took ten minutes. Sloppy and time consuming by his standards. It even looked like something out of a movie, too dramatic. Getting murdered like that, does not involve drama.

Unless...

Was she faking the kill? Maybe a blank, instead of a real shot? Did the drama because someone else was watching...someone spying?

James pondered on it for ten minutes, and finally decided to say something.

"John, I think she spotted us." James said

"What?"

"You noticed the drama in that kill, and how she looked directly at us and _smiled, _like she knew we were there. That's not a good sign."

"Well its 1740 now, we still got thirty-six minutes left. I understand the possibility of something like that happening, but unless she has augmented sight, it's impossible."

"Improbable." James corrected

"Green team this is Blue come in." John radioed

"This is green team receiving, what's wrong?" Maria answered

"We have reason to believe that our position has been compromised, and were bugging out, recommend mission abort for tonight."

"Ok, we have no idea where Lauren went to, she told us to get some rest and when we woke up she was gone, didn't even leave a note."

_Didn't leave a note? This is getting awfully weird_. James thought

_Wait, was that her? But in a different form...temporary plastic surgery maybe?_

It was no time for assumptions. But James couldn't shake off the feeling, the Chief always told them, if it makes sense, it's possible. And to always trust their instincts.

"Ok, let's go." John said

With that, they ran off throughout the endless fields, and hills. They ran by animals sleeping in the trees, strange nocturnal insects buzzing around and houses. They ran like ghosts in the wind, blending in with ease, not making a sound while crunching the grass

underneath them.

They ran for about thirty minutes and then started walking. Never broke a sweat.

"What do you thinks going on?" James asked

"I don't know, but I would be best if you got your shotgun back." John replied

"I understand." James said in shock. He shouldered his sniper rifle and looked back behind them; he saw the same fields they ran through rustling in the wind.

_That's not right, it's not windy out._ He thought

"I think we were being followed." James said

"What?" John said while shouldering his rifle too and looking through the scope

"I say roughly ten guys, carrying weapons, standard spread out maneuver." John continued

"Ten guys against us two? Piss poor odds for those guys." James said

"Yeah, as soon as they come in range, let's open up, silencers, only."

"Alright."

James went about 10 meters to Johns left to cover his flank, crouched and shouldered his rifle. He took the clip out, inspected it, and slammed it back in.

A minute and a half went by his mission clock, and the grass started to sway again, more heavily. James shifted a bit, and just breathed slowly. Two minutes gone by, more rustling, then a slow vibration in the ground. It got louder, and louder

And louder.

James looked over at John with an estranged look, John returned the look and they both stood up. And saw what was causing the rumble.

There were three tanks, three APC's, carrying about seven guys, and not ten, but _twenty_ guys on the ground coming at their location, at full speed.

"Oh shit." They said in unison.

"Fallback!" John yelled

James didn't even hear the order; he was already on his feet and booting it towards the safe house.

"Safe house, safe house come in!" John yelled

"This is Will, what's wrong, Squad Leader?" He asked

"We have APC's and Tanks on our heading, estimated infantry is about twenty. Repeat twenty infantry units. We could use some help over here."

"We don't have any anti-armor weapons--wait--" Will said while yelling orders and talking to someone.

"-yes, ok we have four jackhammer launchers, and--seriously? Wow-- 16 jackhammer missiles. If you can take out those infantry, we'll take those tanks."

"Alright, we'll stand by."

"Ok, James take their right flank, I'll distract them, take a few shots." John said.

"Don't kill them all, I want to see if these new sniper rifles are up to the challenge."

"Don't count on it." John smiled

They once again grasped each others shoulders, and parted ways. While he was running, James saw a nice hill which would give him some sniping cover, plus it was directly to their flank.

So he ran up the hill, and laid into a prone position, un-slung his sniper rifle, and laid some clips beside him.

_Linda would love this._ He thought

He looked over at John who was running and firing at the same time, his shots all hit targets, one hit the fuel line of one of the APC's, incinerating everyone in it. The tanks, the one APC, and about five of the infantry started running over to Johns last position. John jumped over some fallen trees and ran.

James, in the meantime, took out the five guys who were trailing him. One shot hit one guy in the neck, past through him, and caught another guy in the side of the chest. Another two shots brought down two more guys, and by the time the last guy knew what happened to his squad, was shot in the temple. James reloaded, slammed a fresh clip into the sniper rifle and picked targets.

The APC turned to its side and rolled to a stop. James sighted the exhaust port and was about to fire when to rockets hit it in its side, blowing it up into ashes.

James spun around to see Will, Maria, Malcolm, and Joshua all holding jackhammers. Malcolm spent two into a tank and dropped the launcher to switch to his MA2B.

Maria then did the finishing blow onto the tank, one down, two tanks to go. Maria reloaded, patted Will's shoulder, and they ran off together. Joshua took a shotgun and was tearing the infantry down one by one.

Out of James peripheral vision, he could see one of the tanks slowly turn towards him, and was aiming up.

_I don't think so._ James thought

He got up and ran at a sprint of thirty kilometers an hour. He ran off the hill and to the west where Joshua was. Normally he wouldn't do this, because it would be putting Josh's and James's lives at risk, but since the tank couldn't track him, he ran over to him.

"Josh! Tank! NOW!" James yelled while still running

Josh turned and looked at James running at him, then looked at the tank that was having a hard time following him. He instantly got the message and dropped the shotgun and un-slung his rocket launcher.

"DUCK!" Josh yelled

James dropped to the ground and rolled a few meters. Meanwhile he could hear two rockets go over his head.

The first impacted dead on, the second caught the side of the fuel line, again, and blew it up. James got up, picked up his sniper rifle and ran over to Josh who was reloading the rocket launcher and the shotgun.

"Here," he said while handing the shotgun to James "I thought you might've needed it."

"Thanks, but not anymore, I believe Will and Maria finished the last two tanks off." James said

"Will," James continued, "what's our status?"

"Malcolm got a shot to the side, Maria is patching him up right now, and other than that everyone is OK, how about you guys?" He asked

"We're fine, were about to make a sweep of the area, make sure no one is crawling around." James replied

"Alright, who do you think those guys were?" Malcolm said over the com, panting

"I don't know, but I think were not the only ones after the rebels." John interrupted

"Terrorists?" Maria asked

"Maybe, but it would be best if we laid low for a while." John said

"Agreed." They replied in unison

"Take a sweep of the area and everyone meet back at the safe house, gather any weapons you can." He ordered

"Yes, sir!"

James then turned to Joshua, nodded and took a quick sweep of the area. In minutes, they scavenged seven pounds of ammo for various weapons, and found no survivors, and then they ran off into the night.

**1230 Hours, November 9th, 2525  
****Safe House, Naiobi Plains  
****Three Days Later**

_"Now, police are still at the scene of the crime where terrorist were put down by unknown forces in the farming vicinity, the police want them to come forth, so they can be given awards. More on this story, when there's further development."_

"Too bad, we could've gotten awards." Maria stated

"Oh well, only one more day and we're outta here." John said

"Yeah, thanks Lauren." James said

"No problem."

"Well, Malcolm, Josh, you guys are doing the finishing touches on this operation, go get us lots of info so the marines won't be bitching." John ordered

"Alright, see yeah." They said happily

"Everyone get ready, tomorrow, we strike."

**A/N: Wow this chapter didn't want to get written. Hockey, then school, then homework, and by the time I was done, it was time to go to bed. Anyways I hope you liked the chapter and the ending, because I can't think of any other way of ending it.**

**P.S. I beat Shotguncheif! Muahaha**


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Tying Up Loose Ends**

**Part Four**

**620 Hours, November 7, 2525(Military Calendar)/  
****Safe House, Naiobi Plains.  
****Planet Jericho VII**

"Road blocks set up?" John asked

"Sir yes sir." Maria replied

"Sir, _Foxhound _is on station and is awaiting further instructions, plus new orders from Dr. Halsey; it seems that the spooks at ONI want at least one of the rebel leaders alive." James spoke up.

"Alright, change of plans, James and Josh secure the rebel leaders in side the main office, if we are going to be attacking the main camp, they're most likely going to be hiding in there. Take at least one of them alive." John explained

"We'll have two, just so the ONI spooks can have some fun." Josh said happily and nodded to James.

"OK, Maria, Will, Malcolm and I will lead the assault on the, main camp." John said

"Where am I in all of this?" Lauren asked while cocking the shotgun in her hand. She was fully dressed in ODST battle armor and looked fearless of the upcoming battle. She had her sidearm, M6D HE Pistol, and a combat knife was strapped to her boot.

"You have your own squad of ODST's and flank them from the rear, taking out there heavy weapons." The squad leader explained

"Heavy weapons, sir?" She asked

"Yes, Malcolm spotted some while running around the camp, which I have yet to talk to you about, because you could've put this whole operation at risk." John replied

"But if I didn't, our air and ground support would be pretty much screwed over, and we wouldn't know what hit us until it was too late, so I believe I deserve a thank you." Malcolm said smiling.

"Thanks." Maria said

"James, tell _Foxhound_ they can start unloading the Marines and ODST's at the drop-off point, we'll organize our squads there." He ordered

"Alright." James responded

James, in all truthfulness, was nervous, he had the gut feeling where you know something's going to happen, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. Chief Mendez always taught them to trust there instincts to the death, because it just might postpone it.

"_Foxhound_ this is SPARTAN- 076, orders are too drop off Marines and Orbital Drop Shock Troopers at the designated rally points." James said over the comm. Channel.

"Alright, the flyboys are doing their last pre-flight checks, and they'll be off. Good luck, and Godspeed, _Foxhound_ out."

"Is everyone set?" John said while donning his helmet

"Sir, yes sir!" They all replied in unison

"Alright, James, Josh, wait for my signal then move into the office, but go now and set up positions so you can see if they come or not. If they don't get over here and help with the assault." He said

"Ok Josh lets go." James said

They exited the house and ran across to the hills opposite to the main doors. After a few minutes of running, they already heard guns blazing and people shouting orders at each other.

James was itching to go into combat, every ounce of muscle was screaming at him to join the combat behind him, instead he had to play baby-sit with some rebel leaders who will die anyways.

"James there is a convoy of armored vehicles coming your way; no doubt it's the leaders. They have quite a few guards and ornament, so watch your back." John said over the com.

"Finally some combat." Josh said

James nodded in agreement.

-----------------------------------------------------

"Wilson, lay some damn fire on them!" Lauren shouted at one of her men in her squad.

"Yes sir!" he responded

"Greene, help him out, Davis, O'Brian, stick with me!"

"Davis give me some of your grenades, cover our six, O'Brian grab as much adhesive tape as possible, we need to take out these heavy weapons. The Spartans did us a big favor taking the guys out before they could get to them, so lets not let them down." She ordered

The two went over to the rows of rocket launchers, mortars, and anti-armor shells and strapped explosives to them. O'Brian took out some charges and stuck them to the adhesive tape. Fire could be heard behind them, and it sounded as if Greene and Wilson were having some trouble. From the amount of cursing coming from both sides, not much besides "Fuck" could be heard.

"Alright they're all set, and ready, here's the switch." O'Brian said while handing the detonator to Lauren.

She switched to the squad com channel and said "Everyone, pull back to phase line Charlie!"

Greene and Wilson took out a few rebels and ran off towards the Lieutenant, O'Brian, and Davis, who was holding a sniper rifle picking off his targets.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!!" She yelled, ducked and clicked the switch.

But nothing happened.

"Misfire! Misfire! Anybody got more dets?" She yelled

"We're fresh out Laur!" Greene yelled back

"Shit, anyone got anything else that has enough power to blow those charges?"

"No!"

"I guess this is the definition of being screwed over eh Davis?" Greene said

--------------------------------------------

James looked down the sights of his MA2B and spotted the first guard at the door way. He nodded to Joshua who also took out his modified assault rifle and spotted the other guard. They got up and jogged towards the guards, they both pulled the trigger once and both guards went down. They kicked the door down, and spread out. Josh took the left, while James took the right. There were guards stationed around pillars in defensive formation, and sighted James and Josh.

James took slow, deep breathes and squeezed the trigger. Three bullets came out and neutralized one of the guards. Another controlled burst of shots and two more guards went down. He went behind cover and looked over at Josh, who was being suppressed by continues fire. James ran behind the guards and flanked them. He took out the main gunner which freed Josh. He then got up and killed the next two guards.

One guard was still alive and crawling away, James went up to him and grabbed him by the neck.

"What floor are the leaders on?" He asked

"Top floor, please, please don't kill me. I have-"

James cut him off by shooting him once in the head. "Sorry, I have my orders." He turned, through the body and met Joshua at the elevator doors.

"Even though the doors are open, they shut down elevator controls; it looks like we have to use the stairs." He said

"No good, we'll be bunched up and easy targets, we'll climb the rope." James said

"Ok."

They went inside the elevator, popped one of the roof panels and climbed on top. He slung his MA2B around his shoulder, and started climbing. They climbed with all there effort and dead silence. They got to the top floor and James strapped some explosive tape to the doors. He stuck the charge on it and slid down the rope to a safe distance.

He nodded at Josh, who took out two frag grenades, and got ready. James pressed the button, and the doors flew inward. Josh pinned one of the grenades lobbed it to James, who in turn threw it inside. They repeated the act with the second grenade and jumped into the hallway. Only a few charred bodies were on the ground.

He un-slung his rifle and jumped inside looking at both sides, Josh jumped in with a shotgun and surveyed the area. They made sure no one was there to jump out them later and left to find the leaders.

They kicked every door down until there was only one left, and they couldn't believe what they saw.

----------------------------------------------

Lauren thought a lot about what there next move was, there was increasing resistance around the heavy weapons, and Greene said it all, they were screwed over.

"Davis, shoot one of the grenades with your sniper rifle." Lauren said

"Sorry el-tee, no more rounds." He said in a heavy British accent

"Lieutenant, we either do something now, or DIE!" Wilson yelled while shooting rebels with his sidearm.

Laurens mind was racing, she knew what she had to do, but she was too afraid. But if she didn't, her whole squad, and the rest of the assault force, would crumble. She did the sign of the cross, said a prayer and mustered the courage to do what she knew was right. And if she pulled it off, she would be truly rewarded, and her parents would be proud.

She pulled a piece of paper out of one of her pockets, and handed it to O'Brian. She didn't say a word, despite the confused look on his face. She pumped a round into her shotgun and yelled "SUPRESSING FIRE!!!"

-----------------------------------------------

Notes, papers, files, videos, of everything the UNSC was doing. They either had a mole, or they were spying. James heard of the rebels buying UNSC stealth cruisers from the black market. But he couldn't fathom how long they have been doing this. But what surprised him the most was that the leader had no body guards, or a weapon.

James went around the corner, and saw everyone dead so he turned the other corner and saw Josh interrogating him.

_This isn't right, where's the guards? Have we over looked something?_

He took a deep look around the office and shot out every camera. He went over to Joshua and looked at the man who he was interrogating. He took a picture out of his ammo pocket and compared it to the beat up man.

"This isn't our guy..." James whispered

"What?!" Josh

"He's not our guy!"

James ran over to the room where the dead bodies were, but they weren't there. He immediately turned the corner and there was a broken window, leading to the outside.

"Shit! Josh get over here, we're going hunting!" James yelled

"Ok." He yelled while his gun discharged

They both grabbed hold of the ropes that were left and free repelled down. They raised their rifles and ran across the field and in the distance; the engines from a helicopter could be heard. They looked over at each other and picked up the pace, following the footprints on the ground. They ran and ran until they made it to the air strip. When they came to it, the rebels were boarding the helicopter.

They quickly ran across guns blazing. They picked off the guards surrounding it, and Josh sniped the pilot in the cockpit, rendering the copter useless. James jumped and pointed his gun inside the passenger cabin.

"Hands up!" He yelled

Josh ran over and took out a few photos. He looked at each one of them and double checked with the photos they took while on recon duty. They both took duct tape and wrapped it around the rebels wrists. Josh went into the pilot's seat and threw out the body, and revved the engines. James went to the back and pointed his gun at the people.

"Move, I dare you." He taunted

---------------------------------------------

"Lauren what the hell are you doing?" One of the squad members asked.

Lauren didn't know who said it, but she knew what she was doing was for the good of the UNSC. If she pulled this off, the rest of the marines would have a much easier time. If her life meant saving them in this operation, then it was worth it. Her parents would understand.

She pushed her thoughts aside and ran over to the charges. Her plan was to change the settings on the charges and dets so the charge could be blown at a short radius, one foot to be exact. She quickly changed the wiring around, changed the settings on the detonators. If her planned worked, then everything would be fried in a 10 meter radius, including her. The squad would be safe at the distance they're at now.

She grabbed the detonator, held it close to her chest, and stepped closer to her death. She flipped the safety off, and pressed the button.

No one saw the one tear that rolled down her face.

-----------------------------------

The helicopter roared over the battle, marines and rebels fell a like, but James was focused on the men and women who were sitting across from him. Josh was on the com channel talking to the Commanding Officers leading the assault, trying to get a landing area. James gave into the temptation of looking outside to see how the fight was really going, and wish he hadn't.

He saw her; he saw what was going through her mind, and that justified taking her own life. Lauren ran across the field, fixed whatever she needed to, and blowing her, the rebels around it, and all the heavy weapons up. He was struck with a pang of regret, she took them in, and helped them a lot, and if they were to face whoever glassed Harvest, they needed everyone they could get.

James didn't tell anyone else what he saw, he left it alone, he pushed the thoughts aside and concentrated on holding the gun in front of him. It was getting heavy, so he put it down, and pulled out his pistol.

"Are you going to kill us?" One of them asked nervously

"Not me, and not my squad mates, and not anyone here." He replied

"But can you guarantee our lives?" A middle aged woman with a long nose and glasses asked

"No, I can't." James said softly

The helicopter touched down and some armed marine escorts came, and took the prisoners. James got out and breathed in deeply; Josh came up next to him, and did the same thing. They walked up a hill and saw the carnage, bodies and guns lay everywhere. These men and women died for the UNSC, and secured their freedom from rebels and pirating.

John, Malcolm, Maria and Will ran up to the hill in blood soaked armor. They looked like fine despite what had just happened. But it's what Chief Mendez told them to do, "Don't show your emotions, your cold hearted soldiers. Don't go weak."

"Hey! We're dusting off; this is your only direct route to your ship!" A pilot yelled from her pelican.

"We're coming, where's Lauren?" John asked

"We don't know." Maria replied

James stayed silent; he didn't want to tell them. He buried it down and never gave it thought.

"Well, one things for sure," Will said

"What's that?" James asked

"I'm sure as hell not doing the laundry." He said gleefully

They each gave him a playful shove and boarded the pelican to the _Foxhound_ and home.

---------------------------

"Congratulations Spartans, it was a full mission success." Dr Halsey said while the Spartans unloaded their equipment.

"Ma'am, how long till we get back to Reach?" John asked

"We're not going to Reach, per se, we're stopping their, switching shuttles, regrouping with the rest of the Spartans and heading over to complete the SPARTAN-II Project, with Project MJOLNIR."

**A/N: Well there you go, the end of the flashback. Besides that I don't have much to say except when _Halo: Ghosts of Onyx_ comes out, I won't be doing much writing. Comments are always welcome,_ constructive _criticism is welcome, the more you give me, the better my story will get. I hope you enjoyed it. **


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

**Vengeance **

**Something Spartans Should Never Feel**

**D+92:13:40(Spartan-076 Mission Clock)/  
****October 17, 2552(Time anomaly-ERROR)  
****Aboard Covenant Special Operations Ship  
****Unknown Location.**

Anger surfaced.

Hate consumed.

Sorrow filled.

Rage boiled.

James flexed his muscles. His constant dreams and memories of his dead brothers and sisters flooded his mind. His sleep tormented him. His stomach hurt from not eating, his suit stimulates and rations ran out. The dead bodies of grunts in the back of the ship tempted his senses.

Hate is all he could think of. Somehow, someway he had to make the Covenant pay. If it meant risking his life, he was going to make them pay. Just like on Draco III.

Just like Draco III.

James checked his monitor, the slip space drives were well out of power, and the ship has been running on full power for three months. If it had been that long, he lost track of the days, months, years. Not even full power could make the journey to Earth. God knows what's going.

God.

He was never there; he would give some kind of sign. No, he doesn't. If he was there, humanity would have hope. Something they don't have.

His emotions were flooding over him. He couldn't stop, he didn't want to stop. He was losing control. Years of training were breaking; he couldn't hold back the adrenaline any more.

Something awoke in him, something he hadn't felt since he was taken away from home.

Fear.

He was scared, tired, and angry. He drifted asleep, and was forever lost.

Days went bye, the first good sleep James got in weeks. No dreams tormented him, nightmares that angered him. But something swelled inside, something that would control him until he had an answer. Becoming the machine the Covenant feared so much. Memory was shaping him, emptiness is what he felt. But he didn't realize that it set off a string of events.

---------------------------------------

James's sleep awoke something, something in his body, a gene, the same gene that Dr. Halsey discovered in her Spartans that made them able to hold the augmentations. It was in this particular gene that allowed her to pick the Spartan candidates, something beyond the Covenant, or Humanity.

Something Forerunner.

-----------------------------------------

**Three days Later**

James woke up. His hunger was banished from his mind. He could only feel loss. A pain he wished he never felt. After years of emotional containment, he finally broke under the strain. He let loose a waterfall of tears. Spartans never had time to mourn a loss; they were always shipped away on another mission. Now, it seemed like he had an eternity to say good bye. He looked around with his bloodshot eyes, and found what he was looking for.

A plasma rifle.

James slowly got up, walked toward it, and picked it up. He went back over to the odd shaped chair, now broken to fit the MJOLNIR armor, and sat down.

_I can't. I can't, I have nothing to live for, and humanity's doomed. _He thought

He slowly lifted the plasma rifle to the side of his head.

But then he dropped it, with heavy eyes he looked up at the navigation screen.

A UNSC Cruiser tore a hole through space, and entered. James was relieved and immediately tried to contact them-

-only to fail and see it explode. Two Covenant frigates came from the dark side of the closest moon, and destroyed it with plasma torpedos. They were waiting, like hungry sharks.

James, clenched his fists, and realized why he had to live. The Covenant, were still out there, and for every life they just killed aboard that ship, James was going to make sure they would be avenged.

He had to live to protect Earth, now that Reach was destroyed.

The two frigates remained where they were, flying without concern over the Titanium-A debris. They were obviously communicating. James ran his fingers over the control pad, trying to do his best to tap into their communications.

James typed the key pad even faster, trying to do his best with the Covenant Calligraphy scrolling on the screen. _Shit. _James thought, he backspaced, and re-typed. A slight beep went on the screen.

"Bingo" he said aloud

He raised the overhead speakers loud enough so he could slightly hear beyond the static.

"--the prophetsstatic-wort- the Brutes-wort wort-many Sangheilistaticmissing. Humansstatic Earth found-wort wort wort-Demon is therestatic prophets are up to something."

Shock, surrounded by static from the speakers engulfed him. The Covenant had found Earth. On the view screen, it should the two frigates enter slip space, and disappeared from space and time itself.

James once again felt alone.

He pushed the tiny ship toward the area where the covenant cruisers were moments ago. Looking, hoping, that something would be there to find out on what's going on at earth.

Nothing, he could not even find an old frequency from several months ago.

His hunger returned to him, and the ache became the gnawing sensation he wished would go away. It was painstaking. He couldn't think, his heart was beating slower, trying to hold on to what little energy it had left.

With a last desperate move, he scanned the planet nearby to see if it had inhabitants, or a breathable atmosphere.

_No inhabitants, of course. There are only us, and the Covenant, and they most likely glassed it. Breathable atmosphere though. So it hasn't been glassed._

He moved the ship onto a course with the main landmass. At least, that's what the spectroscopic analysis told. He typed in the last key and pushed the joystick onto the heading. He took a combat knife out of the sheath, and crawled to the back.

Grunt bodies lay there, he had no time to take them out when he escaped the Covenant cruiser. James slowly crawled over to them and cautiously cut the meat off the arms. Blue, phosphorescent blood seeped out of the veins. James was about to eat some of the meat when the ship started beeping again. The ship slowly was drifting to the side.

Something was on radar. He could hear the soft decompression of another ship latching on.

_No, that's not possible; this ship is too small, unless, am I being docked? But who could have a tractor beam? That's way beyond our time. _He thought.

Oxygen left the room, and he passed out.

**A/N: Oh no! What has happened to James? Who are the mysterious creatures who has captured James's vessel? The Covenant? Rogue humans? Find out next chapter!!!**

**Sorry, had too. Anyways shorter chapter, yes, bad cliffhanger, yes, just don't hate me yet. Next chapter you won't believe what will go down. Read and Review please.**


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

**Thera**

**TIME: DATE RECORD ERRORANOMALY\Date unknown  
Location Unknown**

James slowly woke up. He couldn't feel his MJOLNIR armor protecting his ghostly white body. He willed his eye lids to rise, but they didn't. They felt heavy, and wet. He felt something cold and hard along his back conflicting with the warmth on his torso. He felt something in his arms, in his legs, in his body. Something was going on.

The unknown feeling came to him. What if it was the Covenant? Rogue humans? Fear clung to his body and wouldn't let go.

_Everyone fears what they don't understand._

James heard the voice in his head, whose was it? It sounded so familiar, like he was the one who said it.

He used the feeling to pump energy into his body, and he opened his eyes. His pupils slowly registered their functions and started to focus. It was a dark, rust stained metallic room. Red and a sickly yellowish-green color stuck to the walls. Things were moving around, blurry, ghostly images. He tried to move his head left and right, but it felt like a thousand tons; wet, and saggy, his neck couldn't support it.

There. He heard them. It was a soft whisper, amplified by James' augmented ears to a normal level. The words stuck to him, but his mind wouldn't register what they were saying. It was so familiar, so comforting, it was nauseating to think so. These things might kill him.

"Sit sus-citatio." One of the images whispered

"Imperator nahas nondum neb instituo." Another whispered back

"Loco mih dormio, nos tsum reperio imperator primoris." A ghostly figure came up to him and put a mask around his face.

The words haunted him as he slowly lost consciousness. What did they mean? As he let go of his conscience, it hit him.

It was Latin.

--------------------------------------------

A few hours later James woke up to a blinding light shining in his eyes. He immediately tried to put his arms up to block the glare, but they were held firmly to the icy table. Something was holding him down, and he wasn't going to let it continue to do so. He shut his dreary eyes, took deep, relaxing breaths, and focused on his strength. His muscles contracted to his thoughts, and flexed with steel power. His forearms grew and his biceps bulged. But the metal braces stood firm with determination. He opened his eyes wide in frustration. Blood coursed through his veins and rushed into his sweat soaked face. The metal bearings began to give into his fierce certainty. He hardly realized the figures in the back were studying him, learning from him, and testing him.

They sat silently in the back, surrounded by monitor's generations ahead of human technology. They studied everything: blood pressure, glucose levels, lung pressure, bone structure, muscular density, and eye power.

Sweat flooded James's eyes and surrounded his body. With a yell he finally broke off one of the rings. A new sense of vigor coursed into his body, his adrenaline was immense. He took his right arm and clasped it on the binding that was holding his left arm. He tried to lift it with all his might along with his left arm pushing it up.

He broke free and sweat glistened on his body, with his last effort he yelled "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?"

A hand appeared and hit his jaw. He was out cold.

-----------------------------------------

James awoke once again, angry, and determined. He was tired of being knocked out, and wanted some damn answers. He lifted his arm and they immediately responded. Nothing held him back. He lifted off a sheet covering his body and got up in one swift motion.

He stood up with grace and came face to face with the most horrific thing he had ever seen.

Fear was integrated into his mind, and it would not go away. He took two steps back in shock; he didn't know what to do. His training came back to him "If it's a friendly don't shoot, if it appears hostile and reacts, shoot it, if you don't know, don't shoot."

It certainly appeared hostile, with a cold glare. It stood at James's height, and wore long flowing gowns. It had a slender frame and old, heavy eyes. Three scars ran along his face. Its hand had several burn marks, and its shoulders looked tired, but strong. Motes of light danced around its body

"You're an A.I?" James asked in shock

It cocked its head "Quare operor vos non utor vetus lingua?"

James put his head down and tired to go through his mind and tried to remember what Deja had taught them. He understood what the creature asked, but he didn't know how to reply.

He finally came up with an answer and replied "Is est a mortuus lingua , narro english."

"You Reclaimers have changed." It said in fluent English

James was nervous, but he didn't show it. He replied "Who are you?"

"I am the last of a race which was propelled to death by our own brothers. I am the last of the Forerunner…"

James took another step back in disbelief. He couldn't fathom the possibility of one surviving.

"What happened to them?" James asked trying not to stutter

"We stumbled upon our own demise; a race we thought would be our brothers in arms turned against us in a flurry of jealousy. They suggested everything; it was all a plan that set the path for our feet to walk on."

"Who?"

"The _prophets_. They found the flood; they suggested that the flood genes be implemented into the _Thera_ bodies. They convinced us it would propel us to god status. We were so blindly convinced. Through us, they created the Graveminds. Through us, they waged their Great War upon the Reclaimers. The flood was their Trump card, and we had no counter."

_But, why? Why would the Prophets go against the Forerunners, but them worship them so blindly thousands of years later? What's the flood? Who or what are Reclaimers? _James thought. It was too much to handle.

"What is the flood?" James asked, trying to absorb everything.

"The flood is a parasite. The infect anything that has a suitable bio mass and implement there genetic structure into the nervous system. If they get a match, they can take over the body."

"Ok then who are Reclaimers?"

The Forerunner cocked its head to the side, as if it were studying him. "Tell me, Reclaimer, why are you asking me these questions, surely you should know your races' past."

"That doesn't answer my question."

It chuckled, "You, you are a Reclaimer. You have the genes, you have the attributes. You're a perfect match."

"But who were these Reclaimers, what did they do?"

It sighed, "Reclaimers are humans. They were humans, before what they had to go through. They were Super-Soldiers, the right hand of the Forerunners, master soldiers, to say the least. Much like what you are now."

"You said the Prophets used this 'flood' against us. Why did they hate us so much?" James asked

"When we found your race, you had the ability to kill without hesitation, occasionally without any cause. Your unprecedented balancing of proficiency, creativity, adaptability, intelligence, cunning, physical prowess, and the power of will and Thymos was what made humanity truly deadly. This potent mixture for war defied all our attempts of classification and comprehension and was beyond any species known to us, including our own. Some have strength and thymos while others with cunning and intelligence; you had it all. You had the extremes of both consuming passion and logical reason, inherently different and conflicting properties that somehow remained intrinsically linked for your race. When we brought your ancestors into the forerunner empire, we were amazed that you had this drive that lifted your people from your senseless violence yet still retain your ferocity. When we asked them why, your ancestors replied 'Because your people and what you stand for are worth fighting for; worth dying for.' They were willing to give everything to us.

The forerunner elders gave there blessings to you and the Prophets got jealous because of this. They so longed for recognition. When your race proceeded to the position of the right hand of the forerunners in a matter of a few cycles, the Prophets expelled with hate and jealousy. They felt they should have been on the right hand after thousands of years of service."

"But, I don't understand, why would the Prophets hate you and despise you, but then thousands of years later, all of a sudden worship you and pray to you?" James asked

"What does this question mean? Have they started the Great War again?" It asked with haste

"Yes, but instead they're now the Covenant. A collection of several alien races bent on the belief that you are there gods. They commit genocide against our race; killing, burning, glassing our planets. They are the Religious leaders, The Elites are their commanders, and they have infantry that are Grunts and Jackals."

"The Sanghas were always behind you in tactics, the Unogalk were numerous, and these Jackals, or Jakhas were with the prophets when they turned against us. Same with the Jirhanik and Yanoso'mesa. And the Covenant? I see they took that name once again……."

"That was their name before?" James asked with curiosity

"Yes, when the prophets disbanded from the forerunner empire, they denounced us and named themselves the Covenant."

It paused, receiving a nod from James "I will answer your question now. Near the end of the war, the flood turned on them and started to kill there own masters. When the Prophets and their "Covenant" realized they couldn't fight two enemies, both losing desperately, they tried to come back to us. We denied them and they were finished off. Or so we thought." It paused again "Eventually we learned that the Prophets survived the infestation and gain the flood properties, giving them ageless existences. But only those…"

"I ask again, surely you must know all of this the-"

"We don't. Whatever Reclaimers survived and re-populated Earth, they obviously hid their past." James cut him off at mid-sentence

"But your armor, your genetic makeup, links you to a direct Reclaimer of Old. Your genetic make up is the only that can allow you to wear this armor, acquire the augmentations made to your body. You have the Reclaimer Gene."

_That's why I was selected for the Spartan-II program. Doctor Halsey knew all along about this, about our genes. But how, but that means, someone had to of past down the knowledge of these genes. If they ever came up again they could breed Reclaimers for finishing the………._

The realization hit him hard. Everything molded perfectly, that's why the Prophets hated them so much……..that's why they started the war against humans in 2525.

_...the Great War. But they beat us too it, and started the Covenant War._

The forerunner cocked its head, and studied James ghostly figure. "I see you finally understand."

James nodded and asked. "Tell me more about this Reclaimer gene."

"It is a certain gene we found in the anatomy of Humans. A normal human gene has twenty four chromosomes. Now these certain humans that we found had an _extra_ pair of chromosomes, each with no DNA structure.

Our top scientists, in the meantime, had created synthetic augmentations to improve beings into super soldiers. We tried with forerunners, but when the augmentations mixed in with our genetic structure, it over-wrote or in some cases, wiped out the original DNA. This lead to multiple organ failures, and eventually death.

We decided to mix these augmentations with these extra pair of chromosomes that the human warriors had. When the augmentations were applied, they instantly copied onto these chromosomes, and the humans received the augmentations making them an unstoppable force. It was odd...though, not all the humans had these genes, and when we mixed it with...volunteers...they suffered a cruel death.

When we built the Halo's, we originally had the _sententia _guarding, containing, and overall protecting the flood; supervised by the Forerunner Warriors. But they were overwhelmed and consumed, because of one thing."

James asked the obvious question: "What?"

"They lacked the drive of passion and the power of hope and desperation that defies odds and often decides closely contested battles. While they might have been able to match your physical capacity, they were simply incapable of fully comprehending war in its true sense because of their nature. The Forerunners were used to standing upon a mountain watching a battle as others died in it. "

"How many Reclaimers are there?" It continued, asking the questions.

"Thirty-three survived augmentation, five are missing in action-"

_Grey Team_

"Now….." James paused "I just don't know."

"Unfortunate." The forerunner looked like he meant the remark.

It turned, and floated towards a door. It motioned for James to follow him, and he reluctantly did so. The A.I. waved his holographic arm in front of a panel, and the thick metal doors screeched open. Behind it, was the most glorious armor he had ever seen.

It was ten feet tall, and had a pinkish tone to it. Its armor was twice as thick as his MJOLNIR, and had a slightly bigger energy pack on the back. Two fan like wings were connected to this pack. Three spikes were hidden along the wrist plate. And there were more along the boots. Beside the armor was a staff like object and a sniper-like weapon

"This is the armor the Reclaimers of old wore. I can't believe they survived this long." It said while placing his holographic hand along the breast plate. "Its made out of a much more advanced type of aggregated diamond nano rods. Virtually indestructible, and can let a Reclaimer transition through slipspace in an instant. With that said, it can also withstand re-entry into a planets atmosphere. These blades right here-" It pointed towards the wing like objects on the shoulders "Introduces anti-matter into an anti-matter reaction generated in this pack, which gives off enormous amounts of energy, when released anything in a 140pi square kilometer range would be vaporized. We introduced this into the armor when we started to lose the war to the Graveminds. The Reclaimers gladly gave their lives for the continuation of the universe. Still, the most lethal component remains the most basic of all, a reclaimer. Without one, this armor is but an empty shell."

"I must train you to wear this and the methods of which to effectively fight the flood. With the destruction of Installation 04, and the Shield World being activated, a Reclaimer is needed. Many Reclaimers are needed." It said convincingly.

"OK, when do we begin?" James asked

The Forerunner smiled.

**A/N: This book is now officially done. The Forerunner theory is mine, and it took a lot of time to think of. If you want to use it, ask me, then cite me. Forerunner Armor/Weapons is the product of HavocLegionnaire and the Weapons Consortium. I want to thank the few people who have read this, your support has been great. Hope to see you reading Book 2, _Birth of a Reclaimer. _**


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